Sep 11, 2015 | coaching, Gen Y, personal development
It was gratifying to see Forbes magazine publish an article last month redefining the highly stigmatized liberal arts degree. Nearly three years ago, I was asked to kick off a three day Career Lab event at Brown University. In true liberal arts fashion, I was given free reign on my presentation and so I created “Leveraging your Liberal Arts Degree…for Competitive Advantage,” a talk designed to instill in the students the confidence that their liberal arts skills are absolutely marketable in a business world that continues its shift from knowledge-based to conceptual. “Back then” — as now — employers were hiring but having a difficult time finding qualified candidates. I agree with Anders’ enthusiastic celebration of all that liberal arts candidates bring to potential employers, not only in the tech world, but beyond. As I stated in early 2013, a “liberal arts curriculum gives you more than ‘just’ a well rounded, integrated education. It develops your critical thinking skills, exactly what employers are looking for today.” It’s true that employers are looking for more than just know-how — they need employees who think critically and can apply what they know to constantly changing situations. Today’s fast-paced marketplace demands far more than technical skills and job-specific knowledge. As with Big Data, it’s less important what you know that what you do with the knowledge. The required (and desired) list of employee attributes I detailed for those 2013 graduates three years ago hasn’t changed…BUT THE NEED HAS GROWN. The only things that have changed since then are the demand for such attributes (it’s greater) and the increasing recognition of how liberal arts degrees...
Dec 27, 2014 | critical thinking, Gen Y, personal development
According to US Government studies, 45 to 50 percent of Americans make New Year resolutions. But 25 percent of these have been broken by the end of the FIRST week; 46 percent will be broken by the end of the first month and by the six-month mark, forget about it. So, with these odds, why do we continue, year after year, to make them? Where did this exercise in futility come from? Why don’t they stick? And, what’s a reasonable person to do? Why do we make them? Vestiges of Puritanism — of striving for improvement through self-examination and self-discipline — reside deep within the American psyche. Layer onto that the also profoundly American tenet of being the shining example, the “city on the hill” and we arrive at a self-involved national ethos that values perfection, self-control and moral superiority. Last I checked, though, we’re human and perfection is a moving target. Making resolutions gives us a false sense of control over our innately human natures and feeds into our need for big gestures. Whose idea was this anyway? While making New Year’s resolutions seems uniquely American, it seems we have the Babylonians to thank for initiating this now quaint custom. Back in the day (600-500 BCE), the ancients set aside the advent of the new year to wipe the slate clean. And because their cultural contributions often came from their need to delineate property, they used the day to settle accounts and return borrowed farm equipment. Ironically, the Puritan-esque ritual of self-improvement was, for the Babylonians, infused with some pagan superstition: they believed that as the first day...
May 3, 2013 | Gen Y, Internship
Over the last few years, organizations have increasingly relied on college summer internships to help fill the new hire pipeline: 80 percent of companies surveyed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) said that recruiting for full time hires was the primary purpose of companies’ internship programs. Summer internships aren’t new, but it’s only recently that they’ve taken on the full magnitude of what amounts to a summer-long job interview. Clearly, this works for companies, as it provides a cost-effective opportunity to kick the tires before purchasing, but it also provides a tremendous opportunity for the interns themselves to demonstrate value and convert their summer positions into full time job offers. But the anecdotal and empirical evidence suggest that summer interns are not maximizing the opportunity. For example, in a recent survey (Emily Bennington, Seriously Empowered Leadership) of more than 700 executives, approximately 75 percent believe that the recent crop of college interns and grads aren’t “cutting it.” In fact, of the 68 percent of respondents who work with or hire new grads, only 26 percent felt those grads were prepared for the rigors and requirements of the 21st Century workplace. While these aspiring professionals may emerge from college with some subject matter intelligence, they’re not arriving with a mastery, let alone understanding, of the critical skills needed to secure the job, demonstrate value…and then succeed. In some cases, companies — to see return on their summer investment — offer training to help interns enhance their performance and start taking ownership of their careers. With that said, make no mistake: this is not a one-way transaction. Instead,...
Dani Ticktin Koplik —
Leadership consultant, executive coach, change agent and passionate professional development expert and speaker. You can learn more about Dani and her clients by visiting dtkBio page. 